Monday, March 31, 2014

I found the following illustration of value - here's the link to the site, it's from the British Geological Society.

a bit of text:

"The main classification criteria (for landslides) are:

type of movement (falls, topples, slides spreads, flows), and

type of material involved in the movement (rock, debris, earth)

Combining movement and material type terms enables
an appropriately descriptive landslide name to be formulated. Naming
can become more detailed with the addition of other descriptive details
related to activity state, water content , rate of movement, etc., if
known (e.g. active, complex, extremely rapid, dry rock fall-debris flow).

Only a small selection of the wide spectrum of landslide types that may develop in nature are shown here."

Recent photos of the unconsolidated landfill located above the concrete block wall which parallels Route 9, across the street from Costco.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

I submitted the following photos as part of my comments, questions and observations pertaining to the SEPA checklist for Wellington Hills Park which was issued by Snohomish County's Department of Parks, April 2013.

In light of the current public interest in landslides, earth movement and exposed geologic features, especially those in Snohomish County, I'm showing views of the western boundary of Wellington Hills Park - which, in part, happens to be along a steep, almost vertical earth wall.

Please refer to the Google aerial view as seen in the previous blog posting. The large white surface areas are the roofs of, what is referred to as, The Primus Buildings.

In photo #1, the park's boundary's is the top edge of the almost vertical wall. The two white buildings are the Primus buildings.

Note - photo #2, the view is to the north. Photo #3 is the view towards the south (240th St. SE is just on the other side of the sloping trees)).

In both photo #2 and #3, note the water seepage and the sand/silt which comes out at the base of the rock wall.

Also note - the trees on the slope in photo #3 are tilting due to land movement.

This photo is from the top of park's western boundary edge -
with the view towards Costco and Hwy 522.

Monday, March 17, 2014

The following photos were taken during a 15 minute period, just after 10am, March 17, 2014

Why take photos at this location?

Because this intersection is considered, by the people who have proposed the sports complex, as the main entrance to their warped re-make of Wellington Hills Park.

photos by Bill Stankus
March 2014

ps: While I was taking these photos a number of westbound drivers shouted positive encouragements.. such as, "Hey, Bill, keep up the good work!" ... "Yeah! Tell 'em they're crazy." ... "Way to go!" ... and there were a few that just smiled, waved and pumped their fists.

Friday, March 14, 2014

It is unfortunate that the government official, Parks Director Tom
Teigen, continues to make many misleading and false statements about his
plans and actions.

I feel it is essential to continue to call him on that. Ms. Stewart
was generous when she said Teigen makes “a lot of statements that are
only half true.”

Mr Teigen says he’s met with the community repeatedly and has
responded to their concerns. In truth, he had the entire complex
designed before ever meeting openly with residents. At the first actual
public meeting his message was that it’s a “done deal.”

Teigen has said he’s being open with residents. In truth, during the
recent “public comment period” for his permit application, the plans
residents were supposed to comment on simply weren’t available.

Teigen said critics of his plans make up a small percentage of the community. In truth, at the recent Woodinville Council meeting over 25 residents
spoke out in firm opposition to Teigen’s sports complex. Residents in
favor: Zero.

Yet Mr Teigen, as quoted in your article, dismisses the residents who
have expressed an opinion and arrogantly claims those who haven’t
spoken up are on his side. (Support from zero people?)

Teigen claims only 25 acres will be developed. In truth, his application asks permission to clear nearly twice that amount.

Teigen’s traffic study describes Woodinville-Snohomish Road as being a
“five-lane” road. In truth, it has five lanes ONLY from the exit from
Costco to the 522 on ramp. A distance not even half the length of
Costco’s parking lot.

The one accurate thing he said is that the Wellington area is a
buffer between the commercial and industrial area and the residential
area. A buffer which Teigen wants to eliminate by filling the area with a
commercial complex.

“They say we’re ruining the rural character, but we’re actually preserving it,” he said.
No doubt Mr Teigen also believes he has to destroy the village to save it.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

I think that Linda Gray and Carol Welch have it right (Letters to the
Editor 3/3/14) with their concerns regarding Snohomish County’s
proposed plan for Wellington Park.

Their factual letters describe issues that raise difficult questions
for Parks Director Teigen. For example, as he has variously described
it, the park is a “Regional Sports Complex” and “an amazing buffer that
insulates you from any development.”

Further, it will only “host lacrosse/soccer tournaments once a year,
if we`re lucky” and “draw regional and national tournaments on a regular
basis.”

Director Teigen might be math challenged as well. He claims only 25 acres will be developed but 47 acres will be cleared.

What? Finally, somehow we get “an economic driver of the region” from low usage and minimal traffic. How does this happen?

Friends and neighbors, haven`t we seen all of this before.

Another slick politician with an agenda tailoring his message to his
audience, back and forth, spinning and weaving the story as he goes
along.

What`s wrong with just telling the truth for a change? Personally, I
love the idea of a community park and so do most of my neighbors,
however a park that remains true to the nature of the local community
with the emphasis on nature, as in NATURAL.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

In the Woodinville Weekly
I was very disappointed in the recent article The Woodinville Weekly
did on the City Council’s public hearing on Wellington Hills Park. A
large number of people spoke against the Snohomish County Parks
Department proposal to change Wellington Hills Park into a Regional
Sports Complex. In general, people were concerned over the very real
issues of traffic congestion on local roads, noise, light pollution,
loss of natural habitat, public safety, lack of any input into the
park’s design as required and loss of the quality of life that’s
associated with living in Woodinville.

The fact is: the
director of Snohomish County’s parks was not at the public hearing yet
he was quoted in the article. The terrible misconception is the things
he said were sound bytes, clichés, half truths or totally
unsubstantiated and condescending generalities.

The fact is: Snohomish County’s proposal is huge. The south side of
240th SE would get artificial turf fields, stadium lights, a huge
Costco-sized park lot and a giant activity building – all of which has
approximately the same size footprint, lighting and noise impact as that
of Safeco Field.

Furthermore: the south side will be dug up and
over 250,000 cubic yards of soil would be trucked across 240th and
dumped on the rolling terrain of that area. After the flattening, their
plans call for a commercial mountain bike building and another large
parking lot. How this accounts for just 25% is unclear.

The irony
is King County gave Snohomish County mitigation money to compensate the
neighbors and the community that have to live by an essential public
facility – the Brightwater Sewage Plant. The 2005 Settlement Agreement
stated there was to be a “community” park for residents near Brightwater
and that they’d be included in the park design. Somehow “Community
Park” changed into a Regional Sports Complex reflecting only sports
enthusiasts interests – and the consequence of that change of land use
is; the sports complex would be worse for the area than Brightwater.

If
the Weekly wants “fairness” and it wants to give “equal time” to
citizens and to Snohomish County’s Director of Parks, then it should do a
bit of investigative reporting. If they do their homework, the
proposal for a sport complex will look like a nightmare.

I’m writing in response to the 1/2 page ad that Northshore Youth Soccer
placed in The Woodinville Weekly issue of Feb.17. I’d like to help
inform not only the writer(s) of the ad, but anyone else who has not
reviewed the numerous materials on the County Parks website.

As the
ad suggested, people need to “get informed.” This does not mean taking
the word of any biased party as truth, which goes for organizations on
both sides of this issue. Northshore Youth Soccer is biased, as the
development proposed most definitely serves their interests. I’m sure
they have their reasons, and I will not insinuate that their claims
regarding their need are untrue. As a 20+ year resident of this
neighborhood, I am also biased, concerned for my property value, the
noise and lighting impact, and mostly for the dramatic increase in
vehicle traffic that is expected as a result of this development.

A
comment in the NSYS ad states that the citizens opposed are “a few vocal
opponents who prefer to protect the open space for themselves.”

Frankly,
I find that comment insulting, very presumptive, misinformed and
self-serving. My primary concern is the increased traffic, and were it
not for a woefully insufficient infrastructure to support this plan, I
would not have a problem with it.

The increased traffic is not just
my opinion, it is a fact that is substantiated by the reports of the
traffic consultant hired by the County, and available on the Parks
website.

I quote from their report: “232 new PM peak hour trips
daily,” “276 new Saturday peak hour trips daily.” It also notes “vast
majority of the visitors/traffic will come from the west” via Hwy 9 and
SR522 (at Costco), citing “long delays” and/or “very long delays.”

Those
who drive to Costco or commute to/from work through that intersection
now already know what a terrible one it is, with the frequent red light
running by exiting shoppers. The County Parks website includes meeting
comments (5/4/2012) made by a NSYS representative that they are looking
to support “8 tournaments a year, to pack the place,” with “130 teams”
with “5-9PM target usage time for NYSA.”

The plan for 700 parking
spaces speaks for itself (I noted the ad didn’t indicate what percent
those will take of the park space, only the field space).

The long,
slow line of cars coming out of Woodinville at PM commute now will be
even longer and slower and during a tournament will be a travesty.

I
also noted on the County website that the name of this development
started out as “Wellington Hills Regional Sports Complex” (meeting notes
4/27/2012), with comments by the Parks Director stating “not just a
sports park but an economic driver of the region,” and the hope to “draw
regional and national tournaments on a regular basis.”

He later
attempted to deny this position (Woodinville Weekly article 5/6/2103),
stating “when you say this is a regional sports complex, we simply don’t
agree with that,” and that the park would host lacrosse/soccer tournaments “once a year, if we’re lucky.” Which statements are we to
believe?

The name for the development was changed to a more benign
“Wellington Hills County Park” when the County realized their sports
park plan was not being embraced by the park neighbors.
My biggest concern?

As
the traffic issues escalate at the Costco intersection, people will
naturally look to the east entrance on 240th St SE as an alternative
(via 156th Ave NE in King Co, 75th Ave SE in Sno.County).
156th/75th
is already heavily traveled as a result of the Costco development and
will certainly see a significant increase in congestion (and accidents
due to the many driveways, cross streets, cycling events and hilly
terrain). The road improvements proposed are seriously inadequate.

Frankly,
the only solution I find acceptable for my biased interests, short of
moving the sports park to a more appropriate locale, is to block any
entrance to it from the east, thus eliminating the traffic through the
residential areas and forcing it through the industrial area on the west
side. I’m sure Costco will not suffer from the added traffic.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Last night at its regular meeting, the
Woodinville City Council unanimously approved an increase of funds for
special land use legal services associated with the Wellington Hills Park
Project.

These funds will be used to address impacts,
legal issues and a possible legal appeal of the application submitted by
Snohomish County.

NSWP wishes to express its gratitude to the
City Council for recognizing that the impacts from the proposed
Wellington Hills Park project require further investigation. We also wish to thank those individuals who attended the
meeting to show their support for the passage of this motion.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Back on January 28th, the Parks Department presented a draft of the 2014 Parks & Recreation Visioning Plan to the Snohomish County Council for their consideration. Several citizens attended that meeting and voiced their concerns because, for the first time, the county officially described Wellington Hills Park as a “regional, tournament-level athletic facility”. (See p. 27 of the Visioning Plan.)

Despite numerous requests to remove references to Wellington Hills Park as a tournament facility, the Parks Visioning Plan moved forward with no changes and was scheduled for Council vote during the February 25 Operations Committee meeting. This meeting was canceled at the last minute, and the motion to approve the document has not yet been rescheduled. We will let you know when the motion reappears on a council agenda.

Why is this important?

Although the Parks Department will tell you that its Visioning Plan is primarily a requirement for funding from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO), in fact this document also satisfies requirements that development under the Growth Management Act start with a public visioning process. (See the Preface.)

The Visioning Plan claims to base its findings on input received from Snohomish County residents. Yet the Parks Visioning Plan actually reveals that residents’ highest priorities are Trails and Leisure Activities. Sports and Special Use Facilities rank last.

Survey responses also overwhelmingly state that the emphasis should be on renovating existing facilities rather than developing new ones.

The Visioning Plan shows us that, once again, the Parks Department is ignoring public input regarding the development of Wellington Hills Park.

NSWP urges you to use this unexpected delay to express your desire to develop Wellington Hills Park in harmony with its rural site and surroundings. It’s an obvious choice for providing the trails and leisure activities desired by residents without destroying the natural beauty of the park.

And remember to ask the Snohomish County Council and the Parks Department to correct the Visioning Plan. Remove all references to Wellington Hills Park as a regional, tournament-level athletic facility, and instead use this site to give constituents what they say they want.